Multipurpose carts that are useful as either snow scoops or general purpose handcarts are known. Such a cart is typified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,058 which issued on Aug. 7, 1973, to Bjorn Arild Larsen. Larsen discloses a typical snow scoop having a trough-shaped container with a closed trailing end and an open leading end, and a "U" shaped handle attached to the container by means of which the container may be either pushed or pulled. A transverse axle lies on the floor of the container at the closed end and extends outwardly of a pair of opposing side walls to accommodate a wheel on each side thereof. In its wheeled mode, the Larsen device may be utilized as a wheelbarrow or a dolly. With the wheels removed, the device is conventionally used as a slidable snow scoop.
Anticipated problems with the Larsen device center about the pair of removable wheels. As may be expected, since the wheels are not carried on the device and because of the relatively long intervals of time between seasonal changes that require either the installation or removal of the wheels, it is likely that the wheels will be at least temporarily mislaid, thus necessitating a search. Under the usual cluttered conditions that commonly occur in garages, locating the wheels may thus be problematic and time consuming.
Another difficulty may occur during the early stages of winter when snow removal from walkways leaves relatively clear pavement behind that will abrade the sliding surface of the snow scoop, thereby resulting in a shortened service life. Depending upon ambient temperature conditions, and the amount of solar exposure, this type of snow removal condition may recur requently throughout the winter months. Even though this potential problem may be overcome by not remove the wheels of the Larsen device during the winter months, a user would then be required to expend extra effort during snow removal in order to overcome the resistance of the snow traversed by the wheel assembly.
When used as a wheelbarrow during the warm months of the year, the Larsen device could be difficult to move under soft soil conditions, especially if its outstanding wheels sink deeply into the soil. This difficulty could be readily avoided by simply removing the wheels, but then this would necessitate extra effort; probably in a location and under circumstances not conducive to removing the wheels. A typical setting may be in a wet and muddy garden plot where a skidding action rather than that of rolling is more conducive to easy movement of the device.